Trying to Get to Center of `Batgate' Physics Problem: Cork Cuts Weight and Mass

Trying to Get to Center of `Batgate' Physics Problem: Cork Cuts Weight and Mass

Article excerpt

There is a double-edged mystery about the strange saga of
Cleveland's Albert Belle and the corked bat.

First, there is the matter of identifying the undersized second
story man who went through a tiny crawlspace filled with air
conditioning ducts and insulation at Comiskey Park to get into the
umpires' dressing room and temporarily lift the evidence.
Cleveland, remember, is the same franchise once owned by the man
who sent 3-foot-7 Eddie Gaedel to the plate.

Then, there is the question of exactly what Belle thought he
was going to accomplish if he indeed was corking his bat. The
Indians slugger, who doesn't say much in the best of times and even
less at moments like this, is not telling. It is interesting to
note, however, that Belle had 26 home runs before his bat was
confiscated and six in the next eight games without it.

The folks at Louisville Slugger have done extensive testing on
the effects of plugging the middle of bats with stuff other than
wood. "What it does," said Chuck Schupp, manager of professional
baseball promotions for the company, "is reduce weight which
produces quicker bat speed. But it also reduces mass so the bat
doesn't drive the ball as far."

This Albert, remember, is Belle. The Albert who did all that
work with energy and mass was Einstein.

And if it's a lighter bat Belle wanted, he needed only change
from his standard model B343, a 35-inch, 33-ounce Louisville
Slugger, to something lighter. The up side to that solution is that
it would be legal and avoid a suspension.

"It's unfortunate," Schupp said. "First, it's something he
doesn't need and second, now people wonder how long he'd been doing
it and it casts a shadow on his accomplishments."

Professor Robert Adair, who teaches physics at Yale University
and has done his own tinkering with bats, said there are other
legal options that would not have gotten Belle in hot water with
American League president Bobby Brown.

"He could choke up three-quarters of an inch," Adair said. "He
could saw three-eighths of an inch off the end. …